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Where we come from

The WCIA was founded in 1973, while the history of the Council for Education and World Citizenship (CEWC) and UNA Wales (now part of the WCIA) stretches back to the 1940s. Throughout that time, the overall purpose of our work has remained consistent: to get people thinking, talking, and doing things about important global issues so they can make a difference in the world.

Our methods for doing so have, of course, evolved over the years, and we have seen some notable successes:

Responsibility for the UK Freedom from Hunger Campaign in the 1970s, administering major projects in India and Africa

Fundraising for a Wales-Lesotho Link, leading later to the establishment of Dolen Cymru

Welcoming high-level guests, including the first visits of a UN Secretary General to Wales (1983) and Archbishop Desmond Tutu (2012)

Hosting the 1995 and 2006 World Schools Debating Championships

Involving over 200,000 young Welsh people in globally focused events and activities

Delivering major projects on Wales’ Peace Heritage, global citizenship education, and the Philosophy for Children teaching method.

Today’s WCIA is a result of these successes, the work of our team, and the context of the world as it is now. What has emerged is an organisation with a number of distinct strengths:

We have internationalist values but are resolutely non-partisan, making us a ‘safe’ forum for the public, governments, businesses and schools

We work across a wide spectrum of international issues, including poverty, peace and justice, sustainability and human rights

We deliver a healthy mixture of core services and ambitious projects

We are connected with many other globally-focused organisations, and have forged strong partnerships with schools, universities and other charities

We have a track record of success in our educational work

We manage a vital asset in the Temple of Peace and Health, hosting other organisations and providing a venue for many external events

We have a distinctive brand and high quality online presence

The WCIA’s history is closely linked with the history of the building we occupy: the Temple of Peace and Health in Cardiff’s civic centre.

1938-1973

The Temple was opened on 23 November 1938 by Mrs Minnie James of Dowlais, who had lost 3 sons in the First World War and represented the war-bereaved mothers of Wales. Lord Davies of Llandinam provided £60,000 towards the £72,000 cost, with £12,000 coming from the King Edward VII Welsh National Memorial Association, which Lord Davies had founded in 1912 with the aim of eliminating tuberculosis in Wales.

Unfortunately, Lord Davies, after a ceremonial x-ray in one of the fleet of vans he had provided to carry out mass radiography against TB, was found to be suffering from a terminal disease and he died on 16 June 1944.

Lord Davies built the Temple of Peace and Health not only as the home of the King Edward VII Association, but also to provide a focal point and symbol for Welsh people’s concern for international peace. It therefore became the home of the League of Nations Union (LNU), a voluntary organisation which supported the League’s work to preserve peace worldwide.

The LNU was widely supported, though financially vulnerable; and its successor after the Second World War, the United Nations Association (UNA) Wales, fared no better. Supporters of the work at the Temple of Peace were concerned that something had to be done, as UNA Wales was short on members and money. It had difficulty in providing the leadership needed for Wales’ response to major campaigns, such as International Co-operation Year in 1965 and International Human Rights Year in 1968. The idea came about to form a ‘Welsh Centre for International Affairs’ (WCIA).

In 1968 a Western Mail editorial commented that this idea was “exciting and interesting” and would “encourage Welshmen to look beyond the confines of Wales and Britain to extend their knowledge and understanding of the rest of the world”. In 1970 a proposal to form the WCIA was formally adopted by the Committee set up by the then Secretary of State for Wales, George Thomas MP (later Viscount Tonypandy), to mark the 25th anniversary of the UN. The organisations on that 25th anniversary committee – the Welsh Office, local authorities, the University of Wales and colleges of education, MPs, trade unionists, industrialists, the churches, political parties the media and voluntary organisations – became the WCIA’s Standing Conference, thereby also extending the range of organisations associated with the Temple of Peace.

The WCIA was officially opened on 11 October 1973 by Lady Tweedsmuir, Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Hywel Francis, MP for Aberavon, once said in the House of Commons:

The Welsh Centre for International Affairs… has for decades played a vital role. Its quiet, educational voice of tolerance and reason needs to be listened to and valued in Wales and beyond. It deserves our full support and we should be proud of its work.

Find out below about some of the people who have supported the WCIA over the years.